Recently, Riggan Law Firm, LLC, a St. Louis employment law firm, filed a lawsuit on behalf of its clients against Granite City Hotel and Resorts, LLC and Sasak Corporation for unpaid wages. The lawsuit—filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on behalf of two former property managers who worked for the defendants at the Econo Lodge Inn & Suites located in Granite City, Illinois—alleges that the employees consistently worked more than 40 hours per week, yet they were not provided with overtime pay. Also, the suit alleges that the defendants paid the plaintiffs less than the applicable minimum wage under state and federal law. While some employees are exempt from overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the plaintiffs in this case allege that they were not properly treated as exempt employees, yet they were still not paid one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for overtime hours. The lawsuit alleges violations of the FLSA and Illinois Minimum Wage Law, which also requires that certain employees be paid overtime as well as minimum wage.
According to the lawsuit, the Econo Lodge where the plaintiffs worked is owned/managed by Sasak Corporation. According to its website, Sasak Corporation, headquartered in St. John, Missouri, specializes in the acquisition, design, development, and management of more than 60 properties in its portfolio of projects in the United States and overseas. Sasak Corporation has been doing business in the St. Louis metropolitan area since 1979, and it provides professional real estate services, including property management, consulting and construction supervision.